Boy taken in car heist found safe nearby

Update: Police said they located the missing boy in the 8000 block of South Stewart Avenue, but are still looking for the stolen vehicle. No further details were immediately available.

An 8-year-old boy was sleeping in the back seat of a car stolen from a South Side gas station this morning, police said as they began a citywide search effort.

The car theft and apparently inadvertent kidnapping occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the 8200 block of South State Street after an adult left the keys in the vehicle while running in to the gas station to make a purchase, said Chicago police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak.